Questions, answered
Everything people ask before buying — about the book, what it takes to coach from it, and how to get a copy. The free primer on how school debating works answers the on-the-day questions too.
A 92-page coach’s guide to teaching and training school debating: eighteen weekly 75-minute training sessions that take a Years 5–6 squad from a standing start to competition readiness for events like the Premier’s Debating Challenge. It covers case building, rebuttal, the speaker roles, manner, the official one-hour preparation and adjudication — and includes a topic bank and every script, worked example and photocopiable handout the sessions need.
Teachers and coaches running a school debating squad — especially at Years 5 and 6 — plus coordinators shaping a whole-year program, and parents who want to understand what their young debater is learning. It is written so a first-time coach can run every session straight from the page.
No. Every session is timed to the minute and comes with scripts, model speeches, worked examples, drills and debrief questions. The model answers are written to be read aloud, and all handouts are included and printable in one sitting.
It is written for Years 5 and 6 (Stage 3) squads preparing for primary competitions, and specifically for the NSW Premier’s Debating Challenge Year 5 and 6 event. The foundations it teaches — PEEL arguments, four-step rebuttal, weighing, speaker roles and Matter–Manner–Method — are the same ones used in debating at every level.
Eighteen full session plans; case-build sprint sessions across the four competition topic areas; two cold debates on unseen topics and a showcase debate; a general topic bank including real state-final topics; feedback principles; a guide to the official coaching resources; notes on running the program a second year; and an appendix containing every script, transcript and photocopiable handout.
Yes. A full session teaches students to judge properly — using the Matter, Manner and Method framework and three adjudication questions — by adjudicating a real Years 5–6 state final on video. Adjudication then anchors the feedback for the rest of the year.
The Program is priced at $30 Australian dollars.
Ordering opens soon — the first run is being printed. When ordering opens, you will be able to buy directly from this site for $30 AUD. In the meantime, see what’s inside.
J. Whately — a former debating champion at school and at university, and, by his own never-successfully-rebutted submission, the best debater in the world. J. Whately is a pen name.